Terry’s Busy

Terry McAuliffe Claims He's Too Busy To Talk About Debates - What Else Has He Been Too Busy To Do Over The Years?

On Wednesday, Terry McAuliffe Repeated His Claim That He Is Simply Too Busy To Deal With Setting That "Silly" Debate Schedule. "Several months ago I agreed to the five traditional debates that Governor McDonnell agreed and then Governor Kaine Agreed. So I've done the five traditional debates. The actual negotiations as it relates to debates, the back and forth, I'll be honest with you, I'm leaving that to my staff. They're dealing with it. I find the debate about debates somewhat of a silly conversation. At the end of the day, we have big issues." (Terry McAuliffe Interview, WVEC-NFK, 6/19/13)

McAuliffe Made A Similar Claim On Monday When He Claimed He Is Not Involved In The "Silly" Debate Negotiations. "While Terry McAuliffe's campaign haggles over gubernatorial debate rules, the candidate said Monday that he is not personally involved in the 'silly' debate over debates. 'I'm not involved in any of the debate negotiations,' McAuliffe said during a campaign stop at New Richmond Ventures, a firm that mentors and invests in what it describes as 'purpose-driven ventures.'" (Laura Vozzella, "McAuliffe Calls Debate Haggling A Staff Matter," The Washington Post , 6/17/13)

WHAT ELSE HAS TERRY MCAULIFFE BEEN TOO BUSY TO TACKLE OVER THE YEARS?

McAuliffe Has Been Too Busy To Create Jobs At His Failed Business Ventures

In July Of 2010, McAuliffe Said GreenTech's Goal Was 4,000 Workers In Mississippi, Tennessee, & Virginia. "McAuliffe says the company, based in Northern Virginia, is committed to developing vehicles that are energy-efficient, affordable, and built in the United States. The business plan is to hire more than 4,000 workers in Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia." (Mar Weiner, "Schumer: Drink NY Wine But Don't Drive Drunk," The Post Standard, 7/11/10)

Terry McAuliffe Went On TV And Boasted That Greentech Would Have 1,000 Employees In Mississippi "By Next Year" In July of 2012. "My business down in Mississippi, with the help of the governor, we're going to have 1,000 employees by next year. We're a small business. We're growing. We want to be a big business, but we're working together in a bipartisan way." ("The Situation Room," CNN, 7/9/12)

By April 2013, GreenTech's Vice President Estimated The Company's Workforce At Only 10 Employees In Virginia And 78 Employees In Mississippi. "When GreenTech unveiled its plans for Mississippi, local media reports said the company estimated the initial phase of the project would cost $1 billion, generate 1,500 local jobs and produce 150,000 cars a year. Marianne McInerney, a GreenTech vice president, said the company employs about 10 employees in McLean and 78 in Mississippi." (Frederick Kunkle, "Car Company Founded By McAuliffe Files $85 Million Suit Over Web Site Articles," The Washington Post , 4/12/13)

McAuliffe Boasted That His Other Company, Frankin Pellets, Is Creating Renewable Energy Jobs In Virginia. "McAuliffe: "I'm down in Franklin, Virginia, creating and saving these jobs, but I'm shipping all the wood pellets over to Europe.... Let's take over every shuttered paper mill in America and do the same thing. It's a win-win. We're creating jobs, it's good for the environment, and it helps reduce our dependence on foreign countries for providing energy to us."("Politics Matters Interviews Terry McAuliffe," http://politicsmatters.org, Aired September 2011)

But, In Reality, "There Has Not Been Any Tangible Evidence That Franklin Pellets Is Any Closer To A Groundbreaking." "As far back as early 2010, a group of investors that includes Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, announced an interest in buying International Paper Co.'s mill in Franklin. At that time, the plant was already in the midst of closing. The investors wanted to convert it into a wood-fired and biomass power plant. A company called Franklin Pellets was eventually formed. A little more than three years later, there has not been any tangible evidence that Franklin Pellets is any closer to a groundbreaking." (Stephen H Cowles, "Where Is Franklin Pellets?," Tidewater News, 5/4/13/)

McAuliffe Has Been Too Busy To Give Virginians Straight Answers About His Positions On Offshore Drilling & Coal

Offshore Drilling

As Late As 2011, McAuliffe Opposed Offshore Oil Drilling And Sneered That "It Will Not Create One Job." "Oil drilling. You can talk about it. We don't make a penny on it here in Virginia. It will not create one job,' [McAuliffe] said during a June 2011 episode of Reston Impact, a Northern Virginia cable television program. 'There's no new technologies in oil drilling, unlike wind farms ...'" (Julian Walker, McAuliffe Once Dismissed Offshore Technology He Now Touts, Virginian Pilot, 06/04/13)

Offshore Drilling Would Generate $19.5 Billion In Government Revenues And 1,900 Jobs For Virginians. "If the sale is allowed to proceed as planned, the commonwealth can be the first state along the Atlantic coast granted access to its offshore energy resources. Offshore development would generate nearly $19.5 billion in revenues to federal, state, and local governments, according to a study by ICF International. If development is permitted by the federal government in the previously off-limits and studied areas of the Outer Continental Shelf, employment supported by the oil and natural gas industry in Virginia, already 143,000 jobs, would grow by another 1,900, a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study found." (Charles Stenholm, "Chance To Be No. 1 - Again," Richmond Times Dispatch, 12/9/09)

McAuliffe Has Since Flip-Flopped, Saying He Supports Offshore Oil Drilling. "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe now supports exploring for oil off the coast of Virginia, reversing his position on an issue that both sides of the debate consider to be crucial to the commonwealth's long-term energy future." (Ben Pershing, "Terry Mcauliffe Reverses Course, Backs Bill To Allow Oil Drilling Off Virginia Coast," Washington Post, 5/22/13)

But By 2013, McAuliffe Had Changed His Tune: "We Have A Healthy Work Force Of Coal, That Coal Can Continue...We Need To Make Sure We Do What We Need To, To Make Sure This Vital Industry Here In Virginia Continues To Grow." "'I was over at Alpha Natural Resources talking about what they need done to make sure we have a healthy work force of coal, that coal can continue,' McAuliffe told reporters. 'We need to make sure we do what we need to, to make sure this vital industry here in Virginia continues to grow...'" (David McGee, "McAuliffe Talks Coal At Bristol Campaign Event, Bristol Herald Courier, 5/8/13)

Politifact Rated McAuliffe's Reversal A "Full-Flop." "But McAuliffe's words in Bristol ring loudly. We rate his new position on coal a Full Flop." ("McAuliffe Blows Hot And Cold On Coal," Politifact, 5/8/13)

McAuliffe Was Too Busy To Testify Honestly To Senate Investigators About His Involvement In An Illegal Campaign Finance Scheme

In 1997, The Senate Investigated Whether The Clinton Re-Election Campaign Had Illegally Engineered A Contribution Swap With The Teamsters. "The Senate committee investigating allegations of campaign fund-raising abuses turned its attention for the first time yesterday to the possibility that funds from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters were improperly directed into the Clinton-Gore reelection effort last year. The panel's chairman, Sen. Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.), suggested early yesterday that President Clinton knew about an alleged conspiracy to swap Teamsters contributions in exchange for Democratic fund-raisers directing big donors to contribute to the reelection effort of Teamsters President Ron Carey. (Susan Schmidt, "Teamsters Contributions To Clinton Effort Probed," The Washington Post, 10/9/97)

McAuliffe Gave Sworn Testimony That He Had No Part In The Alleged Scheme. "The report also cited sworn Senate testimony by Terence McAuliffe, who was treasurer of the Clinton-Gore '96 campaign, in which he said he had no active part in discussions about a contribution swap scheme that triggered a federal grand jury investigation of the 1996 Teamsters election." (Kevin Galvin, "Fund-Raising Report Says Gore, Others Misstated Campaign '96 Roles," The Associated Press, 2/10/98)

But The Executive Director Of The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Testified That McAuliffe Did Participate. "But Matthew Angle, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Senate investigators that McAuliffe "asked did we know anybody that could or would write a check to (Teamsters President) Ron Carey and that if we could help Carey, then we would perhaps get contributions back to the DCCC." (Kevin Galvin, "Fund-Raising Report Says Gore, Others Misstated Campaign '96 Roles," The Associated Press, 2/10/98)

Senate Investigators Concluded That "Terry McAuliffe And Or Other Officials Of The DNC Participated In Efforts To Engage In A Contribution Swap Scheme." "The Senate investigators, working for the GOP-controlled Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, reached this conclusion: 'In sum, the committee concludes that Terry McAuliffe and or other officials of the DNC participated in efforts to engage in a contribution swap scheme. Such efforts included soliciting an illegal contribution for Carey's campaign.'" (Chris Mondics, "McAuliffe Knew About Teamsters Plan To Swap Funds, Officials Say," The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/20/01)

The DNC's Former Finance Director Testified In Federal Court That McAuliffe Had Played "A Major Role" In The Scheme. "A former Democratic official has testified that Terence McAuliffe, President Clinton's friend and chief fund-raiser, played a major role in promoting an illegal scheme in which Democratic donors were to contribute to the Teamster president's re-election campaign, and in exchange the Teamsters were to donate large sums to the Democrats. The official, Richard Sullivan, the Democratic National Committee's former finance director, testified in Manhattan at the trial of William Hamilton, the Teamsters former political director, that Mr. McAuliffe urged him and other fund-raisers to find a rich Democrat to donate at least $50,000 to the 1996 re-election campaign of Ron Carey, the former Teamsters president. (Steven Greenhouse, "Witness Says Clinton Friend Had Part In Teamster Money Scheme," The New York Times, 11/18/99)

McAuliffe Acknowledged Discussing A Potential Swap Of Campaign Funds, Saying "You Help Me, I'll Help You. That's Politics." "This year, Mr. McAuliffe's role in a questionable plan to swap contributions in 1996 by the Teamsters union and the Democratic Party surfaced during the federal trial in New York of the former political director of the union, who was convicted of fraud and conspiracy. Mr. McAuliffe, in an interview, acknowledged discussing a potential swap. 'You help me, I'll help you. That's politics,' he said. But he denied doing anything wrong, saying he had not known that the plan - which was never implemented - was meant to aid the 1996 re-election campaign of Ron Carey, the former Teamsters president." (Jeff Gerth, "Friendship Counts: Clinton's Top Fund-Raiser Made Lots For Himself, Too," The New York Times, 12/12/99)

And McAuliffe Was Even Too Busy To Take His Wife And Newborn Son Directly Home From The Hospital

McAuliffe Wrote In His Autobiography, What A Party!, That, While Driving His Wife And Newborn Son Home From The Hospital, He Stopped To Attend A Fundraiser. "Apparently, for the birth of his son Peter, he was in the delivery room. It was the trip home that's shocking. He, Dorothy, baby Peter, and an aide stopped at a fundraising party for the Democratic Party. McAuliffe left his wife and newborn son in the car with the aide while he schmoozed for 15 minutes at the party." (Diana Reese, "Terry Mcauliffe Partied (And Argued About Health Care) While His Wife Gave Birth," The Washington Post , 5/2/13)

"Dorothy 'Was In Tears,' He Admits In The Audio Version Of The Book, And The Aide Was 'Mortified'" (Diana Reese, "Terry Mcauliffe Partied (And Argued About Health Care) While His Wife Gave Birth," The Washington Post , 5/2/13)

McAuliffe: "I Felt Bad For Dorothy, But It Was A Million Bucks For The Democratic Party…Nobody Ever Said Life With Me Was Easy." (Terry McAuliffe, What A Party!, 2007, p. 290)

AND MCAULIFFE MAY WANT TO DOUBLE CHECK HIS EXCUSE FOR DUCKING DEBATES

McAuliffe Claims He's Merely Following The "Same Five Debates" Precedent Set By Bob McDonnell In 2009 And Tim Kaine In 2005. "Following the luncheon McAuliffe said he has agreed to the same five debates that Gov. Bob McDonnell and former Gov. Tim Kaine agreed to when they were running for the state's highest elected office in 2009 and 2005 respectively. 'We're running our campaign,' McAuliffe said. 'We're traveling morning to night seven days a week. We're in every part of the commonwealth every single day. We're going to continue to do that - talk and listen to folks, and laying out my positive agenda.'" (Todd Allen Wilson, "Cuccinelli, McAuliffe Spar Over Transparency At First Joint Appearance," Daily Press , 5/30/13)

During His 2009 Campaign, McDonnell Challenged His Opponent To A Series Of 10 Debates Around Virginia. "Bob McDonnell, Republican candidate for Virginia governor, last week challenged Creigh Deeds, Democratic candidate for same, to a series of 10 debates around the state. Deeds hasn't accepted, but he hasn't exactly declined. His campaign responded in a statement that, 'We expect the number of debates to be in line with precedent from the 2005 Kaine-Kilgore (gubernatorialrace) and Deeds-McDonnell (attorney general's race) debate schedules.' That would be three. Deeds should agree to more." (Editorial, "For A Full Slate Of Debates," The Roanoke Times, 7/10/09)

During His 2005 Campaign, Kaine "Accepted 11 Sponsors' Invitations To Debate." "For months Mr. Kilgore has been accused by Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, the Democratic candidate, of seeking to squiggle out of debates altogether. Mr. Kaine, by far the more polished debater, says he has accepted 11 sponsors' invitations to debate; so far Mr. Kilgore is certain to show up only at the bar association event in mid-July and one other debate in September." (Editorial, "A Rigged Virginia Debate," The Washington Post, 6/20/05)